Note to self

If suddenly you find that you have a large wet spot in the middle of your hallway ( and you have already done the smell test to make sure that it is not pee) and you think that one of your kids may have spilled a glass of water on it ....well.......After 3 drenched bath towels later think again.
The water just kept coming and coming and then my hallway started to smell like boy's sweaty gym socks. I had Charles pull up the carpet which was no easy task since it was not close to a doorway at all. He could tell that the leak was coming from the wall that backs up to the bathroom. Well another call to the home warranty people (this is the 3rd call we have made since we moved) and I had a nice Irish man here ripping into my wall. Here is the damage that was done but the leak is now fixed. He thought that maybe it was all the way in the attic. (Another reason to keep your closet clean - that is where the attic access is and let's just say that it was not "company ready" )
Now we have to wait a week to let it fully dry out and figure out what to do about our carpet that is going to grow mold any day now. Oh well I had a nice little lesson about copper pipes and flux and why you want to get that all cleaned off.

Soil Envy

So please indulge me for a moment.....last night my uncle came by and plowed up our garden area. We knew that this was the place that the previous owners had done a garden and we were sure that like everything else that we have found here that it was better than promised. All this time that area has been filled with weeds and random grass that we keep mowing down. Well last night when he plowed it up it almost brought tears to my eyes. The soil was absolutely amazing! I am used to the clay like soil of Roseville and the oh-so-rocky soil of Rocklin. This was a sight to behold. There was barely a rock to be found, yummy earth worms all throughout, and we even had a mole that came up out of his hole and was running around in the dirt for a while. The kids took turns "driving" the tractor and those who were not driving the tractor were riding in the bucket. Emmelyne asked if we could do this every week!
This is not our first garden that we have ever planted BUT I would not consider myself a Master Gardener by a long shot. I really know so little however I am willing to try. Do you think that it is a little ambitious to start out with a garden that is almost 3 times the size of our first house! Yep - that's right just under 4000 square feet of garden. Why not set out sights high? What have we got to lose? We only have a lot to gain. We made need help eating through all of the "fruits" of our labors.
The kids and I have been out today making raised beds 10 down - about 60 more to go! Do you have any kids you want to drop by and get some good work in? Bring them by - we could use the help.

Easter Sunday

I do not want to be overly critical however...this was the best picture that we could get on Sunday morning. I realize that the lighting is all funky, that there are big fat shadows across our faces, and that we are all squinting our eyes looking into the sun but all things considered I am glad that I have this picture. I am proud that we took it in spite of:
- us having to be at church by 8:30 am
- us having 2 parties at our house the last two nights (can you TIRED kids and momma) and Charles at a scout campout
- my need to have things perfect in order to do it and we did it anyway
- having a 4 year old that CRIES all morning when he realizes that it is Sunday and he has to change out of his "uniform" (Holes in both knees Levi's and a stripe shirt) to go to church. So fun getting him undressed out of that and into church clothes. :)
- having both of our cars and the trash can in the picture and having to stop everything to move everything
- already being late for church (OK not by anyone else's standards - just Charles' - if we are not 15 min early , we are LATE)

Oh well, I hope that you can enjoy the picture in all of it's imperfections. Notice that we were coordinating and NOT matching. (OK, except for the little boys) My kids think that they are too old for matching outfits now.

Passover Dinner

I wanted to share with you the picture from our passover dinner. We had such a great time with the Rowens. Jennie even brought some of the things that she got while she lived in Jerusalem when she was studying abroad. It was such a calming way to spend our Easter eve.

Spring Egg Hunt!